49ers' threadbare defense provides plenty of cushion

The 49ers concentrated on their offense during April's draft and free agency. They allowed two of their best-known defensive players to leave, unwilling to pay them huge bonuses.

Now, while the offense has improved, the team's defensive weakness is quickly turning this season into a nightmare. There's no star whom opponents fear. Many 49ers haven't shown the speed they need to keep up with running backs and receivers.

Coach Mike Nolan refused to pony up the near $30 million in signing bonuses needed to retain linebacker Julian Peterson (who received an $18.5 million bonus from Seattle) and defensive end Andre Carter ($9 million from Washington). Nolan didn't believe those players were worth that money and thought signing them would plunge his organization back into a salary-cap morass.

Peterson said last season he might have signed for less to stay in San Francisco. However, the 49ers' coaching staff didn't seem impressed by him. Peterson didn't catch on quickly to Nolan's new defense and he didn't rebound in good time from tearing his Achilles in 2004.

Peterson told teammates that he could have worked harder on his rehabilitation, which didn't endear him to the new coaching staff.

This year, the 49ers could use Peterson's seven sacks (the 49ers' total is 13). And they don't have a player an opposing offense must account for.

Though the defense has been put at disadvantages by the offense's league-leading 11 lost fumbles, it has plenty of its own problems.

The 235 points yielded after seven games, puts the 49ers on pace to give up 537 points. Only the 1981 Colts (566) surrendered more.

Peterson, if he had stayed with the 49ers, settled into the new defense and played more instinctively, could have made the defense faster.

It seems the only player who plays faster than someone with average speed at his position is linebacker Manny Lawson, who's often seen hauling down ballcarriers from behind.

Otherwise, the 49ers leave gaping holes in their zone defense and allow too much cushion to opposing wide receivers.

Cornerback Shawntae Spencer consistently lays off receivers by 8 to 10 yards. He did so against the Raiders' Randy Moss, even though Spencer often had a safety behind him.

It prompts the question, is the 49ers' defense too slow to be effective?

"If you ran everybody in (40-yard dashes), then yeah (we're fast enough)," Nolan said. "Playing speed and running speed are two different things. I'll take an extremely bad example in myself. I was pretty slow, but I played pretty fast as a college player because I didn't go the wrong way very often."

Nolan played safety for Oregon for three seasons (1978-80).

Toward the end of last year, the 49ers' defense played better despite starting Bruce Thornton, Derrick Johnson and Ben Emanuel -- three players the 49ers released this year in training camp. The defensive players learned the scheme, and in their best game, induced three interceptions from the Rams in a 24-20 win in St. Louis.

Compared with that group, the 49ers would figure to have better talent, even with the various leg injuries to safety Tony Parrish, and cornerbacks Walt Harris and Spencer.

"It's no different than a rock band, you want your best players and you don't want to just be playing trash music," Nolan said. "It's the same thing on the field: You want the best players you can get and you want to play the scheme that favors them."